Thursday, August 11, 2011

Doommantia on Locrian "Dort Ist Der Weg" 7"

The guys in Locrian seem to be on a roll right now as everything they touch turns into gold and this 7" continues with the run of exceptionally good mind-bending music. This 7 inch has only 12 minutes worth of music on it but you can flip it over again and again for repeated listening pleasure. The sound of the band has always been stripped-naked, bare to the bone sonic experimentation and this is atmospheric music at its most stark. On the A-side, they reconstruct Popol Vuh’s 'Der Ist Der Weg' and give it the blackened Locrian treatment. The track is an abstract, metaphysical track with metronomic rhythms and a kind of vibe that reminds of when The Grateful Dead asked for the sound of thick-air during the making of one of their early psychedelic freak-out albums. The track here is constitutionally delicate meaning that it threatens to break-apart at any moment under the sound of the guitars and electronic noises.

Locrian are one of the few bands on the planet that can make repetition sound astute and this is perhaps their finest example of it thus far. Turn it over and you get treated to a track titled 'Frozen In Ash' which is chilling ambience at its very best. There is haunting piano, acoustic guitars and a drum-roll that is slowly building the tension. The track builds by spreading harm in a subtle, stealthy way and it is beguiling but alluring. The vocals are nothing more than blackened screams but that only adds to the tracks creepy atmosphere.

Yet again Locrain have released something monumentally impressive and it further proves that they are one of the leaders of this kind of sub-genre of doom and ambient music. They have a individuality and uniqueness that is all their own and they just seem to be getting better and better. If you dig this stuff, this is essential.................10/10